The meeting tent was suddenly opened, and Demave rushed in angrily.

He was also dressed in battlefield attire, but he was not wearing heavy armor like Queen Miwei. He was wearing a full set of chain mail lining, including a hood, and a red and purple cotton coat and cloak on the outside. There was a circle of metal buttons in the style of the Aedirn national emblem around his shoulders and chest.

It looked heroic and elegant, and would be great for boosting morale on the front lines. But Lann estimated that this sloppy armor might not even be able to protect against stray arrows.

As Demave entered, he was followed by more than 20 elite soldiers. The armor they wore was not standard, but was modified according to their own combat habits. The only thing they had in common was the Aedirn tricolor rose-decorated shield on their chests.

This is the [Aedirn Special Forces], and Helela is standing among them. She had handed over to the Aedirn people as soon as Lann came back. At this moment, Leila, who has regained her freedom, does not have much hatred in her eyes when she looks at Lann. She understands and still admires the bravery of Lann and Geralt. But at this moment, her monarch has the intention, and she must follow.

Lann took a quick look at the troops behind Demave and found that there were many half-elves with obvious elf-mixed appearance. It was said that Demave selected people in this way in order to make the members of this special forces maintain their hatred for the elves, and in fact they did it.

"Lannister!" Demave's scolding drew Lann's attention back, "How dare you tie up my captain like a prisoner? This is a humiliation!"

"Your Majesty Demave." Lann nodded and saluted the King of Aedirn without changing his expression. "Long time no see."

"I gave you my lead ring and sent my best soldiers as your guide, and you humiliated her like this?" Demave ignored Lann's greetings, "I have to think about one question - what does Cintra want to do? Lannister!"

Queen Miwei's head also began to hurt. She forced her way between Demave and Lann and stretched out her hand to block the furious King of Aedirn: "Demave, calm down first. We are facing a powerful enemy. And I also believe that Lann must have a suitable reason..."

Seeing Mi Wei standing in the middle, Demawi's expression softened, but his voice became colder: "It is precisely because we are facing a powerful enemy that we need to eliminate all unstable factors. I even began to wonder if cooperation with Cintra was a mistake."

The King of Aedirn looked past Mevy and asked Lann again, "What is your reason, Lannister?"

Lan's face still had the faint smile he had when he asked about the gift just now, but his eyes had turned cold.

He thought for a while, then spoke slowly in a gentle tone: "Demave, if you had asked your soldiers in advance, you would have known that her irrational behavior at the time not only nearly put me in danger, but also might have pushed our companions in Aedirn into the arms of the enemy. From this perspective, you even owe me a favor."

"With the vision and insight you usually display, I don't believe you can't see this. So I can't help but suspect that there are ulterior motives behind your questioning and anger just now."

Lann maintained a polite smile and a calm tone: "So I should be the one asking you - what is your reason and what do you want to do, Demawi?"

…

The atmosphere in the tent that had just been ignited by the king suddenly cooled down.

Demave was stunned for a moment, looking at Lann in disbelief, and for a moment he even forgot to react.

"You called me by my first name?"

This is the focus of the King of Aedirn.

Although the King of Aedirn was stunned, the special forces members behind him reacted quickly. They were willing to defend the dignity of the monarch they were loyal to with their death.

With a "swish", long swords, daggers, scimitars, short hammers and all kinds of strange weapons were pulled out by these special forces members.

The Cintra side also responded by drawing out their standard lion-headed long swords.

For a moment, the light of the oil lamp reflected by the steel flashed across everyone's eyes, and the tent was filled with the flash of swords and sabers. If the frontline commander of Nilfgaard saw this scene, he would definitely be overwhelmed with excitement.

“That’s enough!”

At the critical moment, Queen Mi Wei's roar overwhelmed everything. She suddenly drew out her sword and slashed it hard on the simple table in front of her, breaking it into two pieces.

The people of Cintra were in a trance again, and the shadow of the lioness on Queen Mivi became heavier.

"Demave, are you sure you know how difficult the situation we are facing is? Our swords should be pointed at Nilfgaard, not our allies!" Queen Mivi roared at King Aedirn, "Also, Lann is the Duke, the Duke of Cintra! We are helping each other now, put away your little thoughts!"

These scolding-like words made the weapons of the Aedirn special forces slightly turn towards Miwei, but then Demave waved his hand fiercely and asked his men to put away their weapons.

He sat down with a stern face, asked the waiter to pour him a glass of wine as usual, and then stared at Lan.

"And you, Lan." Mi Wei turned around and looked at the lion of Cintra, wanting to preach something.

"You too... calm down!"

Lan En chuckled, softened his tone and shook his head: "Your Majesty Mi Wei, what would the North do without you?"

After saying this, he also waved his hand for the guards to put away their weapons and sit down again.

Addressing Mi Wei as "Your Majesty" was out of respect and courtesy. However, with Lan En's status, he no longer had to abide by these etiquettes.

Previously, in order to maintain the fragile alliance and accumulate strength for the half-crippled Cintra, Lann had to be humble occasionally. This was his responsibility, otherwise he would not have to suffer this grievance with his individual strength. Now that Nilfgaard has entered the country and defeated Demaevi's Aedirn army, Demaevi is no longer the ally that needed to be carefully maintained. It has long since changed from a "helper" to a "mutual helper", and may even become a "help seeker" in the near future.

Aedirn has already entered the game. After his army was easily defeated by Nilfgaard and after witnessing the number of Nilfgaard's legions and their determination to fight, Demave must devote all his strength to this war against Nilfgaard - even without an alliance.

In this situation, he still had a stern face and put on airs, trying to maintain his previous superior attitude and take advantage of the situation to bluff Lann?

Lann naturally wouldn't spoil him.

The Lion of Cintra and the King of Aedirn stared at each other fiercely.

Queen Miwei looked at the broken table with some difficulty and sighed: "Demawi, what on earth do you want to do?"

The king of Aedirn did not look at Miwei, but stared straight at Lann's lion eyes, cursing it in his heart as if it was weird.

"How much support do you want from Mahakam, Lannister?" he asked coldly.

So that's why, Lan En chuckled.

This question also attracted Queen Mi Wei's attention, as it was a question that concerned her as well.

"Three thousand fully armored heavy infantry soldiers, all of whom are centenary dwarf veterans, the elite of Mahakam." This is a force that can be put on the table. Allies need this level of intelligence sharing. "If we need to expand, we can also add some young dwarves who are relatively less experienced. It will be enough to form a legion."

"Very good, Lannister." Demave nodded. "We need this force to fight now."

This was one of the trump cards that Lann planned to bring back to Cintra to use against the Nilfgaardian heavy cavalry in the decisive battle. But now Demave wanted to immediately detain them and send them to the front line to stabilize the situation and reduce the loss of human soldiers.

This is why Demave came over aggressively to hold Lan accountable and take the initiative.

In the expectant eyes of a king and a queen, Lann slowly shook his head:

"If Demave is willing to give your full support, the soldiers of Aedirn are enough to fill the gaps on the front line. Mahakam's heavy infantry will be of great use later. We are not yet at the point of despair."

"From a military perspective, it is too early and wasteful to send out the Mahakam heavy infantry now. You are too impatient, Demawi."

"You want me to bring all my soldiers?" Demave said harshly, "Those are soldiers from Aedirn. And yours are just dwarves!"

King Aedin was obviously very angry about Lan's evasion, but Mi Wei lowered her head and began to think. She was the most anxious person present, but with her rich battlefield experience, she knew that what Lan said was true.

"But Rivia is almost completely conquered, and Lyria has also begun to be invaded." Queen Mivi raised her head again. At this moment, she had to agree with Demave. "We can't wait for the 'decisive battle' later. And if it weren't for my United Kingdom, Cintra might not be able to survive the 'decisive battle' later."

What's the point of having a long-term vision if you can't even get past the present? If you keep your trump card in your hand and refuse to play it, the result will be a complete loss.

Lann lowered his head and tapped his knuckles. The battlefield was far more dangerous than a normal game. His base was Cintra, and all the trump cards in his hand would serve the subsequent decisive battle; but he also had to prevent Nilfgaard from entering a settlement state in advance that would leave him powerless, which meant that he needed to reveal some inferior cards to maintain the situation.

The next best card?

Lann also ordered a glass of wine and sipped it. Although he didn't want to describe himself like this, it was time for the North to see the real Lion of Cintra.

"First, I want to reach a consensus with Her Majesty Mi Wei - and Dema Wei." Lan En deliberately distinguished the two people's titles, ".

"At this stage, we don't have the ability to [destroy] this Nilfgaardian army. We just need to [defeat] them, or [drive them away]." Lan's eyes jumped between Mi Wei and Demawi, "We need to restore the situation to a point where we can support it and continue to maintain it, and then wait for the final decisive battle."

"This means that I will not put all my forces into the battlefield right now. This is not an excuse. You all know the blood feud between Cintra and Nilfgaard - it's just that now is not the time we planned."

“Can we agree on this?”

Lann had already made a complete war plan against Nilfgaard, trying to achieve the goal at the lowest cost. War was not Lann's goal, but to recover and rebuild Cintra. If he lost the power to restore his country just to win a battle, what was the meaning of victory?

Therefore, even though Nilfgaard's raid on the eastern part of the North was indeed unexpected, it did not mean that Lann would be led by them. When the enemy makes a move, we must respond, but the overall strategy cannot be disrupted.

Demave snorted, "Do you think you can easily [drive away] the Nilfgaardians? Lannister, you have the clearest understanding of the Black Army's strength among us, and I can't help but think that you are shirking your responsibility. Do you want to sacrifice Meve's kingdom to attract the Black Army and liberate your own Cintra?"

Demave's tone showed that he began to respect and even admire the soldiers of Nilfgaard. He was really scared by the previous battle. The armies of Aedirn and the United Kingdom almost collapsed when they met the Black Sun Empire. Demave couldn't help but pay attention to them.

From this point of view, "being able to face up to the enemy's strength" is one of Demaveri's few advantages. His military literacy and insights are worthy of recognition.

Lann was too lazy to pay attention to Demave's sarcasm. He picked up the map from the ground and looked at the deployment of the enemy and our own troops marked on it.

"If Aedirn sends troops to help, the United Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia can still support a counterattack, a major war in a local theater of war." Lane stretched out his hand and tapped the map.

"In the several battles with Nilfgaard, I believe both of you admit that the quality of individual soldiers in the North is not as good as that in the South. Such a head-on collision is, on the surface, a suicide mission."

"But, if, I mean if - at this moment, the enemy commander suddenly dies, will we have a chance of winning?"

…

When tens of thousands of troops collide, will the enemy lose their leader directly?

Demave's hand holding the wine glass froze for a moment, and he fell into deep thought: "Lannister, do you mean the assassin?"

Mi Wei shook her head after hearing this: "Not to mention that we have no way to accurately locate the enemy generals. Even if we get the news, it is in the camp of tens of thousands of black-clad soldiers. No assassin can rush in."

"Do you have a suitable candidate?"

Kolgrim, who was standing behind Lann, suddenly turned pale. He had a bad feeling.

The snake demon hunter took two steps forward and walked to Lann's side, whispering, "Lann, assassination is a very delicate job, which requires intelligence gathering and preparation a long time in advance. Especially in this situation, facing such a heavily protected senior general... It's too dangerous!"

If he hadn't had a close relationship with Lann and knew his character, Kolgrim would have almost thought that Lann was going to send him out as a assassin!

Lan looked at Kolgrim in surprise, realizing that his words had made him think too much.

After patting Kolgrim on the shoulder to signal him to stay calm, he turned to look at Demavi and Mivi.

In the surprised and confused eyes of the king and queen, he pointed at himself:

"It's not an assassination, but a frontal battlefield. For today's military strategy, you may not have heard of the concept of [killing the general and seizing the flag]... But it doesn't matter, you should like it soon."

"I will do this. Of course, I also need the two of you to cooperate with me to maximize the effect of this tactic..."